Plans and Resolutions
by crystal.elements
Summary: The beginning of a new year always includes two main things: a New Year's Resolution, and a day that guarantees to kick off the new year with a bang. With Cookie in charge, you can bet that it'll be a New Year the trio will never forget. NedxMoze.
1. Chapter 1

**Although I'm always here to read and review, it's been ages since I last wrote a fanfic on FFNet. That, along with the fact that there just aren't enough Ned stories to go around, finally compelled me to write a one-shot of my own. Hopefully I haven't lost my knack for writing. **

**I've had the longest writer's block you can possibly imagine…but this randomly popped into my head just today. Let's see if I can take one idea and turn it into a full-blown story. **

**Enjoy, then!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own NDSSG. That three-season rule would be long gone if we crazed fanfic authors were in charge, don't you agree?**

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**Plans and Resolutions**

_A Ned's Declassified Fanfiction_

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"GO! GO! G – _NO!_ What're you _doing_, he was totally – YOU ARE _UNBELIEVABLE!_"

"I can't believe you _missed_ that! How does anyone _miss_ that?!"

"You're so_ pathetic! _GET OFF THE FREAKIN' FIELD!"

Jennifer Mosely raised a hand to her head in exasperation and fell back against the couch, rolling her eyes. Her two best friends – guys, no less – were already on their feet, screaming heated profanities at the lighted box in front of them.

"You SUCK! I could probably catch that better than you any day!"

"Yeah, you're lucky he didn't intercept that, you son of a –"

"Okay, seriously, who the _heck_ are you guys talking to?" Ned and Cookie spun around to face the only source of interruption, mouths still half open in mid-shout. "It's a _television_! No matter how loud you scream, the people on the screen won't hear it!"

The two boys exchanged glances and shrugged. "C'mon, Moze, it's just a guy thing!" Ned plopped down next to his best friend, an arm slung playfully around her shoulders. "All guys yell at the t.v. when it comes to football. It's something a beautiful girl such as yourself would never understand."

"If Cookie hadn't done that research project for History last year, neither of you would even understand what football is about," Moze muttered under her breath, shrugging his arm off in annoyance and hastily averting her eyes from that trademark heart-throbbing smile. Ned raised his blue eyes to Cookie, who cocked his head in a "well, she's pretty much right about that" sort of way. Of course, they were too busy with their silent interactions to notice the more-than-subtle blush creeping up Moze's neck.

Defeated, Ned let out a sigh. "Okay, so New Year's Day isn't really going how we planned it. Who knew the waves at the beach were gonna be that choppy, or that the wind was gonna be…well…that strong?"

He tugged sheepishly at the swim shorts still hanging loosely around his hips. They'd had a whole New Year's Beach Party planned out for the day with all their friends – food, firecrackers, beach volleyball, swimming…and then, less than two hours into the party, everyone had left; cold, wind-blown, sand-whipped, and miserable.

"Well, I definitely prefer this over the beach," Moze replied sarcastically, before letting out a loud, dramatic groan. "We need to do something, we can't just stay home by ourselves on New Year's Day! I mean, come on, even our _parents_ went to a party without us!"

"Well, we _were_ going to a beach party without _them_, y'know." Ned corrected, which in turn earned him a nice smack on the shoulder. "Ow! I was kidding!" He rubbed the spot tenderly, as if it actually hurt. "If it makes you feel any better, Moze, they're watching the same football game at the party."

"Yes, Ned. That makes me feel a _lot_ better."

"I know. I'm a natural at making people feel better, aren't I?"

"I don't know…I think I recall a certain middle school science teacher…"

Cookie rolled his eyes. Sometimes it amazed him how clueless some people could be, and after so long, too. He stood silent for a moment, contemplating his next move, when the idea suddenly hit him. Before they could continue another pointless banter, he grabbed both Ned and Moze by the wrists and dragged them to their feet with a bright, excited smile. "Well then, since we can't go to the beach, and we _obviously _can't stay inside and watch some football - " Moze shot him a deathly glare, and Cookie cringed instinctively – "then…we'll just find something else to do! Just because it started off bad, it doesn't mean this can't be the best New Year's yet." He gave a dramatic sigh. "We'll make it a New Year's to remember for the rest of our lives! Now who's with me?"

Moze raised an eyebrow as she pulled her wrist out of the computer-nerd's grasp. "We're juniors in high school, Cookie. You're starting to sound like a pep rally speaker for some 'Mid-life Crisis Association.'" Ned let out what sounded like a loud snort of laughter, which only caused her to burst out laughing as well, which made the both of them laugh even harder, and – well, you get the point.

"Oh-ho, laugh all you want, my dear friends!" Cookie said dryly, snatching the remote to turn of the television. "I don't care what you guys think, we're gonna have the best New Year's ever – in fact, that'll be our New Year's Resolution! We'll –"

"Turn off the melodrama, Cook," Ned interrupted, rolling his eyes as the laughter died down. He was already at the front door, key ring twirling around his finger. "I'm guessing we're going somewhere, then? I'll drive."

"Shotgun!" Moze gave Cookie an enthusiastic pat on the shoulder as she made her way over to Ned, who was already stepping out the door. "Better start planning, buddy! The best New Year's Day ever ends in about 14 hours."

The moment he was alone in the house, Cookie let the smirk he'd been holding in creep onto his face, shaking his head at the brilliance of it all. Even the smartest of people fail to get the credit they deserve, but maybe this time would be different.

"Let the planning begin, then."

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**Yeah, so I lied. I got distracted, it being New Year's Eve/New Year's and all…so now I've got an unfinished fanfic, and I still need my sleep. Eh. I was never good at doing one-shots, after all. Haha. Maybe it's better for you guys, because this just turned into a short multi-chapter. **

**Reviews are always nice. Next chapter will hopefully be up soon. Happy New Year, everyone!**

**-Jaime-**


	2. Chapter 2

**First of all, thanks for the few reviews I received for the first chapter. Reviews always make an author happy. **

**I've come to the realization that the best time I can write is when it's past midnight and I'm nearly half delirious. (Don't ask me why, I really don't know.) Unfortunately, that just makes me doomed, because I've got swim practice bright and early every morning, and that means waking up at 6:00 for a healthy dose of sleep-deprived death. Whoo!**

**Onto the story, then.**

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**Plans and Resolutions**

_A Ned's Declassified Fanfiction_

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**11:00 a.m.**

The small park was alive with noise. Despite the sudden overcast skies and chilly breeze, families were huddled together, laughing and conversing in groups; kids of all ages dotted the sidewalks surrounding the playground, setting off loud firecrackers and admiring the colorful shower of displays they produced.

"Wow," Moze sighed, gazing at the orange and blue sparks shooting out of a nearby fountain. "It's so pretty, isn't it?"

Cookie turned to watch the shower of sparks as well, only slightly interested. Those fireworks were all similar – give them as many different names as you like, but every single one of the fountains spouted the same sparks in different colors, and maybe an occasional whistle here and there. It was simple pyrotechnical logic…he could easily make and manipulate better fireworks himself any day, so they didn't fascinate him much.

Instead, Cookie was much more intrigued by the way Ned's eyes seemed to linger on Moze, not the fountain, as he gave an almost inaudible response.

"Yeah…beautiful."

The moment he caught sight of amused smirk on Cookie's face, though, Ned quickly averted his attention back to the uneaten sandwich in his hand and shoved a corner into his mouth –

And immediately started choking.

Moze tore her gaze from the fountain and rolled her eyes. "Seriously, Ned, there's such a thing as 'small bites'. The sandwich isn't going to run away, y'know." She leaned over to pat his back as he continued to cough uncontrollably, eyes already watering up.

"Sand," He croaked harshly, before another coughing fit could take place. "There's sand…in the food…"

Moze raised an eyebrow to Cookie, who in turn checked the containers filled with their lunches and snacks before nodding a confirmation.

"Yup. He's right."

They were sitting on a large blanket on the grass in the middle of the park, as any traditional picnic would have it. Nearly all the restaurants and stores were closed for New Year's, they had found out, after half an hour of driving through the town and city. Of course, that meant going back to the Bigby household to grab the leftover (or more like uneaten) food from the beach party.

Apparently, as Ned's coughs died down to a mere clearing-of-the-throat, a decent lunch wasn't going to come easy today.

"So," Ned started, hitting a fist to his chest with a final cough. "First no open restaurants, and then the beach decides to come home with our only alternate meal. Anyone got any other ideas?"

Moze gave a half-hearted shrug, burying her face into the warmth of her scarf. "Nope. Cookie said he'd have the whole day planned out for us. I'm not sure if…" She trailed off, scrunching her brow in confusion as she did a double-take of the boy sitting across from her. "Cookie…_what_ are you doing?"

The techno geek jumped and hastily dropped his hand from the side of his computer-glasses, his expression an almost exact replica of a kid caught with his hand in the "sacred candy jar".

"N-nothing!" He denied loudly, failing miserably when a bunch of miniature screens popped up one by one on his glasses lenses. His face dropped. "Well, okay, it's something, but nothing important, I swear, you guys wouldn't be interested…"

Ned and Moze exchanged skeptical looks, then nodded in silent agreement.

"You hold him down," Moze declared, "And I'll grab the glasses."

Cookie let out a strangled cry, clutching onto his glasses for dear life. "NO!" He screeched, as both Ned and Moze began to creep forward, an evil glint in their eyes. _"DON'T TOUCH MY BABY!"_

Suddenly, a loud "_Watch out!_" caused the trio to freeze in place and snap their heads to the source of the interruption, wide-eyed and bewildered. A little boy around eleven years old or so stood several yards away, frantically waving his arms in the air and yelling like a maniac; the older girl standing next to him only pointed towards the sky, a hand clasped to her mouth in a panic.

"_Above you!"_

Ned furrowed his brow in confusion and slowly raised his head to the sky. "Huh…?"

Without warning, a long belt of firecrackers landed onto the blanket directly in front of them.

There were several things that happened in the next few moments.

It was Cookie who reacted first. As Ned and Moze continued to stare at the explosive in some sort of daze, he scrambled backwards with a small high-pitched shriek, a hand reaching up to steady the glasses falling off his nose. He stared in disbelief at his two best friends, who still hadn't moved from their spots. This firecracker was a literal ticking time bomb, bound to explode in mere seconds…_why weren't they reacting?_

"_NED!_ _MOZE!_" He bellowed. "It's _LIGHTED_!"

That seemed to snap Ned to life, and without any hesitation he lunged towards Moze, wrapping his arms securely around her midsection and causing her to gasp in surprise as he dragged them both off the blanket. Her fingers caught the edge of the material and she yanked it as hard as she could, and the containers holding their ruined lunches flew off to the side –

The firecracker was launched high into the air. But instead of landing a safer distance away, it tumbled to the ground only inches away from where Ned and Moze had fallen. The fuse continued to sizzle, eating up the already dangerously short string; Ned pulled Moze away from the firecracker and flush up against his chest, and she buried her face into the crook of his neck; they held their breath, eyes squeezed shut, waiting for the inevitable explosion –

But it never came.

Ned slowly opened an eye, arms still wrapped around Moze in a vice-like grip. He caught sight of the rope of red and immediately tensed again – only to realize that the fuse was gone. He almost didn't believe it, and he sat frozen for a few more moments, waiting for some kind of delayed blast…still nothing happened. Finally expelling the breath he'd been holding in, he took a chance and thrust out his leg, landing a kick on the firecracker dud and sending it flying to a safe distance away.

Moze's eyes flickered open when she felt Ned's chest deflate, and she slowly shifted within his embrace to stare at the spot where the firecracker had once been, visibly shaken. Her mouth opened and closed repeatedly for several seconds; she looked like a fish right out of the water.

"W…" She gasped hoarsely, finally finding her voice. "What…what the _hell_ was that?!"

Cookie dropped to the ground, hand still clutching his glasses. "I don't know…it fell out of nowhere…but the fuse…the moment it hit the firecracker, it just…fizzled out or something…"

"I thought we were going to _die_!" Ned screeched, a mixture of shock and disbelief flashing through his clouded blue eyes. "All that for a stupid _dud?!_ I almost got a heart attack!"

Cookie offered a small smile. "Well, dud or not, you protected Moze, didn't you? That's got to count for something, man."

Ned's face wiped completely blank, and he stared at Cookie for a few seconds, his mouth half-open with an already-forgotten reply.

"Um…" Moze said softly, visibly flustered as she looked away from Cookie and instead focused on Ned's arms. "Ned…you can let go now."

Ned's eyes went as wide as saucers. "OH! Right!" He dropped his arms as if he had been burnt, laughing nervously. "I know." He cleared his throat and stood up, making a big effort to dust the blades of grass and dirt off his pullover and jeans. "Sooo. What d'you guys say to getting out of here already?" He scratched the back of his neck with a weak smile. "I think maybe we've had enough fireworks for one day."

Moze immediately followed suit, grabbing the blanket and jumping to her feet a little too enthusiastically. "Good idea! Cookie, where're we off to next?"

Cookie looked between his two best friends and blinked. "Uh…"

"You know what, Cook, you can drive this time!" Ned said brightly, walking past him and slapping him on the shoulder. "You're the one with the plans, so it's probably better that way anyway, right?"

"I call shotgun again!" Moze shouted triumphantly, and she hurried past Cookie as well, keeping a noticeable distance from the boy striding along in front of her.

Cookie grinned, bending over to grab the fallen containers of food as he shook his head in amusement.

"Unbelievable."

He glanced to the sky, then back to where the two kids from earlier were now playing with some sparklers. The boy looked up at him and flashed a smile. Cookie's grin widened, and he mouthed a silent "Thanks, kid" before turning around to follow his friends.

As they reached the car, Ned suddenly jolted to a stop and turned to face Cookie, an inquisitive look on his face. Moze looked from one best friend to another in confusion as Cookie cocked his head. "What?"

Before anyone could stop him, Ned walked right up to the techno geek and swiftly pulled off his glasses. "We still never found out what you were doing on here, remember? C'mon, Moze, help me figure this thing out!"

Cookie let out a scream and dropped the containers as Moze ran up beside Ned and pulled one side of the glasses into her grasp, already pressing the miniscule buttons.

"_NO!_ _Don't touch them!_ You don't know what you're doing – !!!"

Back at the park, a certain firecracker dud sprang back to life and exploded with several loud _CRACKS_.

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**Well, that was extremely fun to write. I hope you all understood exactly what took place here…but if not, you'll find out soon enough. Cookies for anyone who can find the reference to a certain Ned's Declassified episode in this chapter!**

**Once again, comments and critiques in a review are always nice. **

**Next update soon!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for the delay. School's started up again, and I've only got an hour or so every night of free time to work on this thing. (Yeah, I know it may seem like a lot, but trust me, it takes me a LONG time to type up these chapters. I'm just a detail-oriented perfectionist like that, unfortunately.)**

**Before we get to the story, I'd just like to give a big shout-out to my fellow cyber friend, a huge role model of mines, and a wicked awesome fanfiction author, ****sweet blossom89****. Truth be told, she's the one who sort of jump-started me into cranking out this chapter (no matter how long it took). She's probably wondering how she could've possibly done such a thing, but all it took was a simple reply to my review of her latest chapter of **_**Make You Mine**_**. (If you haven't read that story of hers, I strongly recommend that you do. You honestly don't know what you're missing if you haven't come across **_**Make You Mine**_** yet.) Yup, she just inspires me like that. This chapter is dedicated to you, girl. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ned's, or the song title "Funkytown". I don't own ramen, either, but I do have some stored in my food cabinet.**

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**Plans and Resolutions**

_A Ned's Declassified Fanfiction_

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**12:45 p.m.**

Moze let out a sigh as she opened the door to Ned's car and fell into the passenger seat for the third time in less than three hours, an action that Ned echoed in his seat behind her. Cookie started up the engine once more and pulled out of the Bigby's driveway, a determined look engraved into his face.

_Eleven more hours. I can totally do this._

"Y'know Ned, I think fate's trying to tell us that we're supposed to stay at your house for New Year's," Moze stated nonchalantly, locking brown eyes with blue in the sideview mirror for a moment before glancing over to the driver's seat. "Are you sure you've got the whole day planned out, Cookie? We can always just stay here and watch a movie like we usually do –"

Cookie shook his head fervently. "No way. I know _exactly _what we're doing, don't worry! What happened at the park was just a little bit of bad luck, it's not like it'd _actually _happen again!" He gave a suspicious forced laugh which, luckily, went unnoticed by the other two. "Plus, in the end, we _did _get to eat lunch – it might not have been what you'd call an _ideal_ New Year's meal or anything, but it's still better than nothing at all, right?"

Ned shrugged in response. "Hey, it was the only thing in the house I could find that we could actually eat."

"It was the only thing in the house you could find that you could actually _cook_," Moze corrected.

"Without burning down the house," Cookie added with a grin, "Like you almost did last time –"

"HEY!" Ned interjected loudly, eyes wide and nose flaring. "We agreed that we'd _never_ speak another word of that ever again! My mom still hasn't – and _won't ever_ – see that burn mark under the antique rug!" He blew out a threatening huff, eyes still darting back and forth between the two front seats. And then, just like that, he went right back to normal, shooting a smile into the sideview mirror and wiggling his eyebrows at Moze. "But you have to admit, though, lunch _was _pretty good, right?"

Moze rolled her eyes and laughed. "Yeah, yeah. I think that's the first time I've ever tried instant ramen."

"Me too." They stopped at a red light, and Cookie turned to look at Ned curiously. "Where'd you get them from, anyway? I never see packaged ramen like that in any stores here."

Ned furrowed his brow in thought. "Yeah, I know. I think my dad's college friend who lives in Hawaii sent a box over a little while ago. Apparently it's a really popular food there or something."

"Ah."

The light turned green and Cookie made a right turn, eyes back on the road. The trio went silent for a while, each immersed in his or her own personal thoughts, then Moze turned on the radio and they were all screeching along to the lyrics of their favorite oldies songs. Or at least Cookie was. Moze merely hummed along in a soft, almost inaudible voice. Ned belted out the words just for the heck of it. And both of them laughed hysterically whenever Cookie hit a high note and cracked even more.

"C'mon, Moze, sing louder! We can't even hear you over there!" Cookie chirped in between verses of _Funkytown_, nudging the flustered girl with his elbow. "We need some girl harmonizing already!"

Ned stopped imitating the technobeat long enough to lean forward next to Moze's ear with a soft smile, tucking a lock of brown hair behind it.

"What are you so shy about?" He whispered faintly, and a tremor instinctively shot down her spine as her breath hitched. "You have an unbelievable voice, Moze."

Cookie glanced over with interest as Moze turned ten full shades of red in less than a second, mouth open and spluttering random nonsense. Ned's smile turned into a grin as he spoke in a slightly louder tone:

"Of course, anyone who lives next door to you would know, seeing as you're practically belting it out in the shower every single night –"

"_Oh, you little –_"

The next thing he knew, Moze had him in a headlock; her seat reclined all the way back to keep him wedged between both the front and back seats as she spun around and practically strangled the life out of him. Even while choking, Ned let out a strained laugh – "I'm kidding, Moze, I'm _kidding!_ I can't breathe! Uncle! _Uncleeee!_"

"Uh, guys, not to ruin your innocent fun," Cookie interrupted nervously, eyes darting between the road and his friends, "But I _am_ still kind of driving here."

The hold on his neck immediately slackened, and Moze dropped back in her seat, arms folded stubbornly across her chest as Ned went into a coughing fit for the second time that day.

"Wow," He managed with a short laugh, a hand rubbing his throat gingerly as his eyes sparkled at her through the mirror. "I haven't had a headlock like that from you in years!"

Moze quickly shifted her gaze away from his to the window, thrusting a stray hair out of her still-red face. "You may have gotten a lot bigger since middle school, Ned Bigby," She snapped in annoyance, "But that doesn't mean I've lost my touch."

Of course, he didn't miss the ghost of a smile that had appeared on her lips.

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**1:12 p.m.**

"_And here we are!" _Cookie exclaimed triumphantly, stepping out of the car and holding out a welcoming arm to the large building ahead of them. "Destination number two of the best New Year's Day ever – the one, the only…"

"…IceLand?"

Ned's face completely wiped dead as Moze stared up at the gigantic sign plastered above in amusement.

"I have to give you credit, Cookie," she stated in a matter-of-fact voice, a hand cradling the side of her face as she shook her head. "Of all the places in California I thought you'd take us to, this was _definitely_ not on the list."

"An _ice-skating rink?!_" Ned shrieked, slamming the car door behind him. "Cookie, do you even _remember_ what happened the last time I tried to ice-skate?!"

The image of a certain mop-headed boy doing a hilarious rendition of the "slip-on-a-banana-peel" fall right onto his rear end flashed through all of their minds, and Cookie and Moze fought (and ultimately failed) to keep from bursting out laughing.

"_It isn't funny!"_ Ned bellowed, an eyebrow twitching like mad as the two doubled over, clutching their sides. "I couldn't even sit _down _for the next hour, my butt was totally bruised! _BRUISED!_"

It was true – both Moze and Cookie (and not to mention about a dozen other people) had had front-row tickets to the show the moment Ned had stepped onto the ice. After that incident, he had refused to even go near the rink for the rest of the time they were there, instead sulking around the arcade section and letting out his frustrations on a poor hit-the-gopher game.

"That was over three years ago!" Cookie argued. "You were still a klutzy little seventh grader back then, and it was your first time –"

"That doesn't even _count_ as a first time, and I still _am_ a klutz!" Ned retorted viciously, hands tweaking uncontrollably in front of him. Apparently he hadn't gotten over it yet.

"Oh, come on, Ned," Moze insisted, grabbing his arm and pulling him towards the building. "Cookie drove us all the way here to have some fun, we should at least make the most out of it!"

"Yeah, says the one who actually knows how to ice-skate," Ned muttered bitterly, but he let her lead him towards the entrance nonetheless.

Cookie grinned. Leave it to Moze to make that boy's ego melt. He locked the car and came up beside Ned, who had now submitted to walking on his own, Moze's arm still unconsciously wrapped around his. But then Moze noticed Cookie's amused glance and she hastily let go, wrapping her scarf tighter around her neck with a small distracted cough.

Ah. So maybe it wasn't as "unconsciously" as he had thought.

Cookie's grin widened. "Don't worry about it, man – we probably won't even know any of the people here anyway." He patted Ned's shoulder reassuringly, still looking at Moze, who was now suddenly determined to keep her eyes focused on anywhere but her two best friends.

The trio reached the front door, which automatically opened and greeted them with a blast of air even colder than outside.

"And besides, how bad could you be?"

**1:57 p.m.**

The rink was full of ice skaters of all ages; beginners carefully glided along the border, a hand always within reach of the wall, while the few experts speed racing and pulling off tricky stunts stayed within the center. The rest of the skaters, a.k.a. the "in-betweens", cruised at different speeds, enjoying the music that blared loudly through the speakers.

And then there were two teenagers, a boy and a girl, who stood at the dividers separating the "learner's area" from the rest of the rink. Here were the little kids who were stepping onto the ice for the very first time, using walkers for support as they stumbled this way and that with their parents in tow. Right smack dab in the middle of the tiny crowd, looking extremely out of place, was another teenage boy, his arms wrapped around a walker half his size and holding on for dear life. In fact, if the other two teens squinted and cocked their heads to the right just a little bit, it looked almost as if he were a senior citizen trying to run on a slip-n-slide slick with water.

"So apparently, Ned's pretty bad at this." Moze stated simply, as Ned's legs buckled under him for the tenth time in less than a minute. She glanced over at Cookie, who was staring at Ned with a mixture of disbelief and utter amusement. "Cookie, even with people _not_ knowing who he is, I still think Ned will permanently hate you for this kind of humiliation."

"_I'll hate you BOTH even MORE if you don't get over here and help me out!!!" _Ned shrieked loudly, which caused the few adults who were helping their kids on the ice to shoot him dirty looks.

"_What?!_ What did _I _do?!" Moze retorted angrily, eyes wide with shock as she and Cookie quickly made their way under the divider tape.

"You're the one who dragged me in here and talked me into this!"

"Well, it's not like I actually knew you were _this _bad at ice skating!" She reached for Ned's wrist and pulled him out of the learner's area as Cookie returned the walker to the rink's entrance. "I mean, come_ on_, it's _just_ like rollerblading! You already know how to do that!"

"It is _nothing_ like rollerblading!" Ned hissed through clenched teeth, his free arm flailing like a maniac. His attempt to keep balance failed, and he lurched forward, grabbing onto Moze for support; she let out a yelp of surprise, eyes wide.

"_Ned!"_

The sudden weight threw her off balance as well and she slipped backwards with a small scream, pulling Ned with her. But he caught on at the last moment and spun Moze around in mid-air; they both crashed to the ground, him taking the brunt of the fall and her landing ungracefully on top of him.

Cookie skated over to the groaning tangled heap that was his friends and knelt before them, shaking his head in pity.

"Nice catch, Ned. You two okay?"

"I've been better," Ned muttered under his breath, helping a flustered Moze into a sitting position. "Can we leave now?"

"Nope, sorry." Cookie stood and helped both teens to their feet. "I've already got everything planned out perfectly, so we're not leaving until four."

Ned staggered in place before clutching onto Moze again, eyes wide in disbelief. _"Four?!" _He shook the girl's shoulder back and forth in desperation, but for some reason she didn't seem to be responding much. "Moze, help me out here, I'll _die_ ifwe have…to…"

He trailed off, peering at her blank expression in confusion. She seemed to be staring right through him, absently chewing on her bottom lip, and he slowly waved a hand in front of her face. "Moze. _Mooooze._"

Moze blinked and reanimated with a start. "Huh?"

Ned gave her a strange look, then shook his head. "Never mind. You sure you're okay?"

Before she could respond, Cookie spoke up in a chipper voice. "He wanted to know if you'd go out with him, Moze."

The reaction from the two was absolutely classic. Ned tweaked out, shooting Cookie a look that clearly said "_Who_ said _what_ now?!" Moze's jaw dropped and she almost fell over again, and this time it was Ned who kept her steady rather than be the one who caused the fall. But then he saw the look she was giving him and quickly let go…only to lose his balance and crash to the ground again instead. He struggled into a sitting position, and it took them both a moment to recover, and then –

"_WHAT?!?!"_

Cookie gave them a confused stare. "Go out. You two. Together. Y'know, instead of staying here at IceLand. Go somewhere else." He cocked his head to the side and peered at Ned. "That's what you were gonna say, wasn't it?"

"_No!_ I mean, _yes_, but I – _That's not even CLOSE to what I was going to say,_ _Cookie!"_ Ned yelled in frustration, eyes bulging. He fell back against the ground, laying spread out on the ice in front of them._ "I just want to get out of here!!!_"

Moze seemed to snap out of her flustered stupor, and she shot an accusing glare at Cookie before bending down to help the boy to his feet.

"Sorry, dude." Cookie shrugged apologetically, "Like I said, we can't leave till four. You both left it up to me to put this New Year's thing together, and that's what I'm doing! You can't just pull out of it now."

"You promised that it would be the best New Year's ever!" Ned argued heatedly, stumbling over to hold onto the wall. "This obviously isn't going the way you planned it, or else I'd actually be having fun!"

The song that was playing through the speakers suddenly faded into to a new one, and Cookie perked up excitedly. "Hey, I love this song!" As if he hadn't heard a word during the past five seconds, he quickly skated away, much to Ned's extreme irritation.

"_HEY! I'm still talking to you, Cookie!"_

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing!" The techno geek called behind his shoulder, flashing a thumbs-up sign in Ned's direction. "Trust me, it only _seems_ bad now –"

"_It IS bad now!!!"_

"It'll get better!" Cookie insisted with a wave of his hand, and with that he disappeared into the crowd of skaters, already busting out his eccentric dance moves.

Ned gaped after him in disbelief for a moment before slapping a hand to his face, letting out an exasperated groan.

"I really hate that guy."

Moze gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder, silently trying to make sense of their friend's peculiar motives. "Well…he _did _go through all the effort to set this thing up for the three of us. We shouldn't complain, right?"

"We have every right to." Ned shot her a skeptical look. "He's plotting something else, too. I _know_ he is."

"Knowing Cookie, you're probably right." She heaved a sigh then took Ned's hand in hers, causing him to jump in surprise. She raised an eyebrow before gently dragging him away from the wall. "What? C'mon, I'll help you out of here, we can still have some fun in the arcade. I think I spotted that shooting game you're obsessed with when we first came in."

Ned immediately brightened at the sound of "shooting game" and took an enthusiastic step forward. "_Awesome!_ Let's go –"

Apparently, he had forgotten that they were standing on ice. And that he couldn't skate to save his life. His legs shot out from under him and Ned swore out loud, jerking forward; Moze quickly pulled him towards her and he fell into her arms, embracing her for dear life as they both struggled to stay on their feet. Once she had gained her balance again, Moze let out a sigh of relief, still breathing hard, as Ned loosened his hold a little and straightened to his full height, looking frazzled.

"Wow," He said finally with a short laugh, looking down at his best friend with a grin. "That was…"

She had chosen to look up at him at that particular moment, and brown eyes locked with blue; both their smiles faded as they realized just how little space was between them.

"…close…" He managed to finish in an unnatural croak. "That was...really close."

Wow. This just became _incredibly_ awkward.

"Yeah," Moze said with a nervous laugh. "But…we're good now, right?"

"R-right."

"Okay. So, um…I'm just gonna…" She slowly dropped her hands from his back and pulled away, tucking a strand of wavy hair behind her ear. The warmth that had come with the close proximity of their bodies immediately vanished, and she shivered, although she was pretty sure the cold wasn't the only reason for it.

_Oh, no. Not this again…_

They had started going out during the eighth grade, after the end-of-the-year field trip. But for some reason it hadn't worked out, and they had gone back to being the same best friends as before, almost as if those few exclusive months had never happened. She'd told herself over and over again that she was over it; after all, they _were_ better as friends, and not as a couple. Couples fought all the time, whereas true friends rarely had any serious troubles. She wouldn't risk losing Ned over some stupid relationship problem. She loved him way too much for –

Whoa. Not that kind of love, of course. He was like a brother to her, and that was all. This was just another one of those coincidental situations where her mind tried to trick her into thinking otherwise.

Just like all of the other coincidental situations that were occurring today.

No, she didn't love him like that at all. Just plain coincidence and trickery of the mind.

…Right?

God, even in her head it sounded ridiculous.

Cookie wasn't anywhere to be found, but Moze now had the strongest feeling that he was the main reason for all of her internal stress. Suddenly, the "something else" he seemed to be plotting was starting to become very clear, and she mentally whacked herself for not realizing it sooner. _It was all him!_ She grinded her teeth in annoyance. She wasn't exactly sure how he was doing it, but Moze was almost certain Cookie was behind all of this. As soon as she found that boy, she was going to give him a piece of her mind…

Ned's panicked voice abruptly dragged her out of her thoughts, and Moze blinked, noticing that he had grabbed her hand again and was desperately trying to pull her towards the exit of the rink without falling, his face completely drained of color.

She shook her head to clear her mind. How long had she been in her own little world? She glanced at Ned again, and his dread became understandable when her ears finally tuned in to the speakers; they had long stopped playing music and were instead announcing in a booming voice:

"_The rink is now closed to the outside crowd! All skaters still on the ice, the Four Corners competition is about to begin!"_

Ned's face dropped in horror, and he shot a deathly glare at Moze, who could only muster a weak apologetic smile.

Coincidence indeed.

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

**I was hoping to finish this whole ice skating thing in one chapter, but it was getting a little too long. So you get a cliffhanger instead. **

**If Ned, Moze, and Cookie seem out of character, I'm sorry. They **_**are**_** a little older, so I'd expect that they're a little different, too. And for those of you Ned fans…don't worry, he won't be tortured for too long. I know he's been getting the short end of the stick in this chapter, but he'll get his moment of glory. Hopefully. You'll have to tune in to the next chapter to see for yourself!**

**Lots of references to my own life/experiences and stuff in this chapter. And yeah, we do eat a lot of ramen here in Hawaii. It's the best. **

**Review, as always! Next update comes soon!**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm such a movie whore. I pretty much spend every single weekend at the theater with my two "boyfriends", as my parents and grandma call them. Such a waste of my poor money. Ironic, though, isn't it? I have my own Ned and Cookie, literally. The comparison to Ned's Declassified is so accurate it's almost frightening. **

**Anyways, because of the movie thing, I really haven't had much time to update, which is why this is late. Nonetheless…Enjoy!**

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

**Plans and Resolutions**

_A Ned's Declassified Fanfiction_

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

**2:15 p.m.**

"What the _heck_ was _that _about?!" Ned shrieked furiously as Moze shrunk away from him, her apologetic smile instantly fading into a wince. Meanwhile, the announcer's voice boomed through the speakers, explaining the details of the upcoming game.

"_The rules of Four Corners are simple. Each corner of the rink has a number from one through four posted on the wall…"_

"I-I was just lost in thought, I wasn't paying attention!" Moze stuttered defensively, a guilty flush spreading across her cheeks as Ned stared at her in utter disbelief. "I'm sorry, okay?!"

"_Once the music starts, you have a short amount of time to skate over to a corner of your choice. Watch out for other skaters – anything goes in this competition, and the clockwise and counterclockwise rules won't apply! Whichever direction you choose to go is up to you, but just don't think that three-way collisions will stop the game!"_

"Of all the times to get lost in thought," Ned gritted through clenched teeth, "You choose _NOW?!?!_" He lost his footing and jerked backwards; Moze tightened her grip on his hand and pulled him closer to steady him.

"W-well, it's not like I did it on purpose!"

"I was practically _screaming _at you!" The teen looked like he wanted to flail his arms in frustration, but he refrained from doing so; it'd only cost the both of them their balance, not to mention their dignities. If it wasn't already gone by now, that is. "I was literally trying to _drag _you out of the rink, Moze! How could you _not_ have noticed?!"

"_Once the music stops, anyone who is not in a corner is immediately eliminated! For the rest of you, we'll then announce one of the four numbers chosen at random – whoever is in its corresponding corner is eliminated as well and must exit the rink, and all remaining skaters move on to the next round!"_

"Look, we can just get eliminated!" Moze insisted, unconsciously shuddering from the icy glare Ned was currently giving her. "You heard what they said, we'll just stay away from the corners and we'll be out –"

"_The game ends with the last person standing, and the lucky winner will receive a very generous New Year's gift donated by an anonymous young individual – an all-expense paid ski trip for themselves and two guests up at the Celtic Springs Mountain Lodge in Colorado!"_

There was a wave of hushed "oohs" and murmurs; both Ned and Moze went very still, faces suddenly wiped blank. The announcer let out a hearty laugh, which sounded suspiciously evil as it echoed from the speakers.

"_I bet a whole lot of you watching from the sidelines are wishing you never left the rink now, huh?"_

The rink erupted in excited chatter, and Ned turned to face Moze, an unnaturally fiery look in his deep blue eyes. Her own brown ones went wide with realization, and she quickly shook her head. "Wha – Ned, _no!_ We can't play, we both know that you can't even skate to save your life, there's no way we –"

"_And now, skaters, get ready –" _The music blasted to life through the speakers, and the rink exploded into chaos as nearly fifty skaters raced this way and that in a flurry of ice flakes. _"GO!!!"_

"C'mon, let's go!" Ned hissed urgently, watching the mayhem unfold as Moze continued to gawk at him, incredulous. He squeezed her hand reassuringly. "Look, I'll hold on as best as I can, okay? You just skate!"

"But…"

Several skaters whizzed right past them, going so fast that the wind generated behind them whipped Moze's hair across her face. She barely recovered from the shock before an impatient Ned nudged her forward.

"_Moze!"_

"I –"

"_JUST GO!!!"_

Her competitive instincts finally kicked in at that point, and without another moment's hesitation Moze dashed forward at an unbelievable speed, dragging along a screeching Ned behind her. She weaved them between slower skaters with ease, already coming up towards the middle of the rink; Ned's eyes went wide with dread as an inexperienced skater to his left headed straight for him, out of control.

Moze glanced over her shoulder and quickly jerked Ned forward – he narrowly missed the collision, but the other skater was less lucky; she lost her balance and hit the ice with a small shriek. Eyes as wide as saucers, Ned swung his other arm around and clutched onto Moze's hand with both of his own.

Bad move.

Within moments they had finally reached Corner Three, and Moze had been expecting Ned to hit the wall with his free hand to soften the impact of the stop. The moment she realized that he _had _no available free hand she frantically skidded to a halt; Ned went flying forward, his side about to make direct contact with the wall, but Moze reacted at the very last moment and jerked him back. He smashed into her at full rebound velocity; they both skidded a few feet backwards, arms wrapped tightly around each other and holding their breath –

The speakers gave off a record-scratching type of noise and the music stopped; Moze let out a sigh of relief and loosened her hold on Ned, whose harsh breaths sounded like a cross between hyperventilating and wheezing.

"_Sorry, stragglers, time to make your way towards the exit!"_

"That was close. I swear I thought we were gonna fall or…" Moze cringed halfway through her sentence and glanced at the boy who was now practically crushing her hand. "Um, you okay?"

"F-fine…" Ned managed with a shaky nod, eyes unbelievably wide. "Totally fine."

"_You all ready for this? The first corner out is…" _The announcer paused in suspense, and everyone went quiet in anticipation, albeit a few obnoxious skaters who shouted out the numbers of the corners they weren't in.

"…_Number FOUR! All skaters in Corner Four, please exit the rink now!"_

There was a collection of groans; a small group of ten skaters or so sulked out of the rink, shooting glares towards the small crowds celebrating in the three other sections.

The announcer laughed again. _"Better luck next year, maybe! Round Two, everyone…"_

"Ned, you look like you're going to throw up," Moze said quite frankly, shaking his limp arm in concern. "Look, I'll take you to the exit, I'll still have a chance if –"

Ned shook his head furiously. "NO! We have a better chance with both of us on the rink! We'll just split up and take different corners –"

"You can't _skate, _Ned!"

"Then I'll just…stay here or something!"

"And what happens if your corner gets eliminated?" Moze raised an eyebrow. "You'll hold onto the wall and hobble to the exit?"

Ned let out an aggravated groan and ran a hand through his hair. "We'll just keep on doing what we're doing, then! It's a _ski trip_ in _Colorado_, Moze; you know you want it as much as I do!"

"Yeah, but –"

"_Ready –" _The music started up again. "_GO!!!"_

The dozen or so people in their corner scattered in all directions, and Moze gave one last fleeting look at Ned before tightening her grip on his hand.

"Okay…better hold on…"

She charged forward again, and Ned bent over, attempting to keep his balance as best as he could. "Go for Corner Two!" He shouted through clenched teeth; Moze nodded in understanding and sped along the border to avoid the majority of chaos and collisions occurring in the center of the rink.

Ned cautiously glanced around, his shaggy brown hair whipping across his eyes. This wasn't half-bad when there was no one to crash into him, he realized. And then they were slowing down, and he dropped both hands from Moze's and stopped himself as soon as they reached the wall, a triumphant smile spreading across his face. "Hey, I think I'm getting used to this!"

Suddenly, without warning, something solid hit Ned full in the stomach and his eyes bulged; he ricocheted backwards from the impact and slammed into the wall, dropping to the ice before Moze had even turned her head.

"_Ned!"_

She was kneeling before him in an instant. His eyes were scrunched in pain, arms clutched around his sides, and her alarm mounted tenfold. "Are you okay?! H-how did –"

"What the _hell_, asshole!"

Startled, Moze turned to the owner of the voice, who was currently pushing himself into a sitting position a few feet away. He looked like your typical football jock in size and muscle, his oversized hoodie and jeans covered in tiny flakes of ice. The boy standing next to him attempted to help him up, somewhat concerned. "Oi, Shane, you okay?"

The jock completely ignored both the offer and comment, and the boy (probably one of his followers, Moze observed silently) backed a safe distance away as he hoisted himself to his feet. He glared down at Ned, eyes flashing angrily.

"Next time, get out of the freakin' way when I say so, runt!"

Moze's expression went from anxious to fury. "Like he knew you were coming! Why didn't you just swerve out of the way or stop instead of crashing into him full force?!"

Shane glanced over, only noticing her now, and raised an eyebrow. "Stay out of this, chick. The idiot had it coming to him, he could've moved out of the way himself."

"He's not that good of a skater! You can't just expect someone to move when _you're_ the one out of control –"

"If he can't skate, why the hell is he even playing the game?" He bore his eyes into hers, and suddenly an understanding smirk found its way onto his lips. "Oh…you want to win the ski trip that badly, huh? Looking for some good alone time in the mountains?"

Moze went scarlet at his obvious implications, her hands clenching into fists in her lap. "T-that's not…you…"

"_Leave her out of this."_

Moze quickly spun around to gape at Ned, whose expression had turned deathly cold. His breathing was harsh, eyes burning with rage, aimed at the jock standing above him; she'd never seen Ned so angry in her life, and it scared her.

Shane let out a derisive laugh, clearly amused with Ned's threat. "What, is the amateur gonna give me a reason to shut my mouth?"

None of them had been listening to the announcer up until that point; now, the speakers once again blared to life with music, signaling the start of the third round. Apparently, another corner had already been eliminated, and it hadn't been theirs.

Shane motioned at the boy next to him to follow, then gave one last contemptuous look towards Ned before skating away.

"Keep your little girlfriend in check, wimp. But _I'll _be the one to win that ski trip."

"_You son of a –"_

Ned gave a reflex that looked like he wanted more than anything to tackle the guy to the ground and beat the living daylights out of him, and Moze hastily latched onto his arm to hold him still.

"Just let him go," She said firmly, standing up. "Following him is exactly what he wants you to do. If he gets eliminated, we'd get eliminated too."

Ned was beyond fuming, but he knew Moze was right – he'd probably get his butt whooped by the guy anyhow, judging from his size. Still, being right definitely didn't help the painful throbbing coursing through his head and gut, which refused to subside as he grabbed onto Moze's outstretched hand and raced to another corner.

Round Three moved into Round Four, and Round Four moved into Round Five; one by one the unlucky people in the eliminated corners dragged themselves to the rink's exit in disappointment. There were only a handful of skaters left at this point, and the announcer's voice boomed through the speakers before the next round could begin.

"_Looks like we're down to our last few…how about we make this game a little more interesting? Starting this round, _two_ corners will be eliminated instead of one! Ready, y'all? And…GO!!!"_

Ned and Moze were currently situated in Corner One; the few skaters around them scrambled towards the eliminated corner, Corner Three, from the last round, chancing the odds of a two-time elimination.

"Wait." Ned jerked Moze's hand back just as she began to head in the same direction. "That's what everyone thinks, that they won't choose the same corner twice…but that's exactly what they might do." He furrowed his brow in thought. "Odds are that Corner Three's gonna be one of the two chosen. I'm sure of it."

Moze could practically hear the bells and whistles going off in his head as he analyzed the situation, and she couldn't help but grin. _'He refuses to use his brain for anything other than school, but the moment you throw in a free trip, you've got yourself a genius.' _She shook the thought away and spoke up. "So where do we go, then?"

Ned ran a hand through his hair and exhaled through his teeth. "I say…" He hesitated for a moment before making up his mind. "I say we stay here."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I have a gut feeling about this."

The music screeched to a halt once again, and the skaters in all four corners looked at the announcer's booth in anticipation.

"_And now…the two corners out are…"_

Ned held his breath, squeezing Moze's hand as he flashed her a hopeful smile; her heart skipped on impulse, although she was pretty sure it had nothing to do with the suspense.

"…_Corners Two and Three! Please exit the rink!"_

Ned threw a fist into the air in triumph before wrapping it around Moze, laughing and cheering at the same time. The seven or so skaters from the eliminated corners shot them both dirty looks as they passed, something Ned didn't even bother to notice; Moze's expression, on the other hand, seemed to say "I'm sorry you didn't make it all the way, I wish we all could, and no, I really don't know who this boy hugging me is".

"_Sorry, you unlucky skaters, maybe next year…Oh, but it looks like we've only got four competitors left! I think it's about time for the Sudden Death Round!"_

The small smile on Moze's face wiped away completely as she caught sight of the other two skaters in the corner to their right. Shane caught her eye and sneered maliciously, while the same boy stood awkwardly at his side, trying to look discrete.

'_So much for celebration…'_

She cleared her throat and pulled away from Ned, showing him just who it was they were up against, and his jaw dropped in disbelief. Before long the mixture of hatred and disgust had appeared on his face once more.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me."

The two enemies locked eyes in what seemed like a staring death match as the announcer began speaking again.

"_The Sudden Death Round is as follows: each skater must choose one corner, and one corner only. No two people are allowed in the same corner, or else _both_ are disqualified. Once each skater is in their respective corner, I'll announce a final number. This number is the _safe_ corner – in other words, all other competitors are eliminated, and the remaining skater is the winner! Do you four understand?"_

Moze's face fell. The chances of winning were dead even – it was basically a team battle fighting for the final prize. The outcome of this game was unbelievably crucial; if the other two won the ski trip, it would by far be one of the biggest upset of Ned's life – Moze could tell just by the expression on his face. God knows Shane would rub it right in their faces without any remorse, and she had a feeling her best friend wouldn't be able to live it down.

Regardless, all four slowly nodded their heads.

"_Onto the music, then!"_

"Stay here," Moze ordered quietly, dropping her hand from Ned's. "I'll take Corner Three."

Ned met her gaze briefly and gave a tense nod, his head still turned in Shane's direction. The other two still seemed to be deciding who would take the remaining corner, so he gently motioned her forward. "Go for it." Moze flashed a reassuring smile before skating away, glancing back for a split second before focusing on the corner diagonally across.

She was nearly halfway there when Ned saw the devious smirk appear on Shane's lips. The jock pushed his companion back towards the wall and charged across the ice, a look of determination etched on his face. He was _quick_, Ned realized, and his stomach suddenly gave a sickening lurch of horror.

'_He wouldn't.'_

Shane was catching up to Moze, and fast. But he wasn't aiming for her corner…rather, it seemed like he was aiming for _her_.

Apparently, he would.

"MOZE!!!" Ned screamed. _"WATCH OUT!!!"_

It was a second too late. Moze chose that moment to look back in confusion, and by then Shane was already there. She barely had time to raise her arms in front of her before his shoulder made contact; she was thrown to the side, hitting the ice with a loud _thunk, _and lay there motionless.

IceLand instantly erupted into chaos. The music screeched to a halt as the crowd lining the rink went into an uproar, while others ran over to see what was going on; Shane's companion was shouting at him, his expression furious; but Shane ignored them all, staring smugly at Moze from his newly acquired corner, saying words that only she could hear as she slowly lifted her head from the ice:

"You _lose._"

Then there was a sudden gust of air and a blur shot past her – she caught sight of Ned's faded jeans and gasped as her livid best friend literally tackled the jock head-on, sending them both to the ground. Yelling, swearing, the sound of fists making contact; in mere moments, five rink officials had the three of them surrounded – four of them interfered with the fight, ripping the boys away from each other before some serious damage could be done. One of the two was already sporting a bloody nose, but she couldn't tell who it was –

And then they were gone, and Moze was being lifted to her feet by the remaining official, who asked her if she was alright.

"Y-yeah…just a little sore…" She managed shakily, and the official gave an understanding nod, helping her to the rink's exit. The crowd around the rink was already dispersing; the music had started up again, and skaters were beginning to pour onto the ice again for free skating.

How much time had gone by, Moze wasn't sure, but before she knew it she was sitting at a table by herself, a hand running through her hair and her brain a muddled mess. What exactly had happened? Ned didn't even know how to skate, yet he had made it across the rink (and in record time, too, she added silently) as if it were second nature. She, and obviously Shane, hadn't even seen it coming. She could care less about the jerk; it was Ned she was worried about. Where _was_ he?

And who had won the ski trip, anyway? She hadn't even heard the announcer after she hit the ice; the commotion and the throbbing pain had been too much to handle at the time –

Right on cue, as if the question had been waiting to be answered, someone tapped Moze on the shoulder. She looked up in surprise, recognizing him almost immediately.

"Hey…You're…"

"The guy who was hanging out with the asshole?" The boy laughed uneasily, shifting his feet. "Yeah, that's me." He held out his hand, and Moze reluctantly shook it. "My name's Kellen. That jerk who knocked you over is my older brother, Shane."

Moze's eyes widened in shock. Not some follower like she had thought, but his _brother?_ Wow, she –

"Never saw that one coming, did you?" Kellen said with a knowing grin, finishing her exact thoughts for her. She tried to stutter out an apology of some sort, but he quickly held up his hands to stop her. "Oh, no, it's fine, don't worry. I know we look nothing alike, and we definitely don't act alike, either." Moze visibly relaxed, and his smile faded into a concerned frown.

"Anyway, I actually came here to apologize for everything my brother put you through. I couldn't believe he did that to you, it was already bad enough for him to be such an ass to your boyfriend –"

Moze visibly turned a shade of red. "Oh, n-no, Ned's my _best_ friend, he's even like my brother, but we're not together or anything –"

"Really?" Kellen raised an eyebrow. "Huh. Could've fooled me, the way he charged _my_ brother like that." He quickly changed the subject when he noticed Moze getting redder, looking more uncomfortable by the second. "Uh, anyway…I want you to have this."

He dug into his jacket pocket and held out a thick, white envelope, motioning for her to take it. When she hesitated, he placed it on the table in front of her. "It's the airline tickets and money for the ski trip. Take it."

"_What?!_ N-no!" Moze vigorously shook her head, pushing the envelope away from her. "I can't take that, you won it fair and square!"

Kellen shook his head as well, placing the envelope in front of her again. "Actually, that's not true. I don't even know why they named me the winner, I was just the only one still in a corner and not involved in all the chaos." He shrugged lightly. "Besides, if I take the prize, that means Shane would end up getting what he wanted in the first place. He had everything planned out, you know. I think he knew I'd be the last person standing, which is why he did what he did. What he probably _didn't _know was that I'd completely ruin it for him after all that so-called hard work."

Moze continued to stare at him incredulously, and he gave her a kind smile. "Seriously, take it. You and your _friend_ –" he emphasized jokingly, and Moze gave a slight wince – "deserve it way more than I do. I could've done something to stop all this from happening, but I didn't, so this is my way of making up for it."

She was still beyond stunned at the generous offer, but Moze finally took the envelope and fixed Kellen with a look of sheer gratitude. "Thank you. Really. This…this is awesome."

"No problem." Kellen grinned. "You're a pretty cool girl…Moze, I believe your friend called you?"

"OH! Yeah, Moze." She laughed apologetically. "Sorry about that, I didn't even tell you my name. It's actually Jennifer, but Moseley's my last name, and Ned gave me the nickname ages ago, it's stuck with me ever since –" She broke off abruptly and mentally whacked herself in the head when Kellen gave her an amused stare.

"Um…yeah. That's the history of my name."

"I see." Kellen let out a laugh. "Well, like I said, you're a cool girl, Moze. I'm sure any guy would be lucky to have you." He winked secretively. "Including the best friend."

Moze flushed and attempted to stutter a response, but she was interrupted by a buzzing coming from inside Kellen's jacket – a text message. He skimmed through it and let out a sigh, pocketing it once more. "Well, I've gotta get going. It was really nice meeting you, Moze! Good luck!" And with a final smile and wave, he disappeared as soon as he had come.

Moze blinked, then gazed blankly at the envelope still clutched in her hands.

…What just happened here? Good luck with _what?_

And _where_ the _heck _were Ned and Cookie?

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

**3:07 p.m.**

The door to the official's office burst open as a disgruntled Ned trudged out, looking disheveled and annoyed. He caught sight of both Moze and Cookie sitting on a bench nearby waiting for him and he walked over, plopping down between them without a word. Moze and Cookie exchanged glances.

"So…" Moze began cautiously, "What's the verdict?"

Ned exhaled loudly through his teeth. "Just a warning. They said it was wrong for me to start the fight, but they also understood that I had 'good reason for my actions'. The asshole got thrown out immediately for insubordination and breaking a load of rules, so it was more his fault than mine, apparently."

"So you won't get kicked out too?"

Ned shrugged. "Guess not."

The trio sat in a tense silence for a while.

"So…uh…" Cookie gave a defeated sigh. "How about we just leave this place already? It's a little early, but I guess we can find some time to kill –"

Both Ned and Moze were already on their feet, expressions clearly showing sheer relief.

"_THANK YOU."_

"Okay then." Cookie quickly stood up as well, suddenly very fidgety. "Let's hurry up and get out of here." He adjusted the straps of his backpack on his shoulder and headed straight for the door, not waiting to see if the other two had even gotten off the bench. This time it was Moze and Ned that exchanged glances before following suit.

"Uh, Cookie…what's with the backpack?" Ned furrowed his brow in confusion as he and Moze attempted to keep in step with their friend's speed. "You didn't have it when we first came in here, did you?"

Cookie went visibly stiff but continued walking, and Moze turned to Ned to explain. "You know how he sort of just disappeared before the game? I found him sitting on a table behind the announcer's stand typing like crazy on his laptop." She shot Cookie a sidelong glance, eyes narrowing in suspicion. "I don't even know what he was doing, and he won't tell me, either. He shut his laptop as soon as he saw me walking over."

"Oh, it's no big _deal_," Cookie said lightly, brushing it off like nothing. "You know me, I'm just a nerdy little computer geek."

Ned's face turned skeptic as well. "Yeah, a nerdy little computer geek with some sort of motive." He groaned loudly, running a hand down his face. "You know what, this is turning out to be the worst New Year's ever. You _fail_, Cookie."

"Hey, I've got till midnight!" Cookie exclaimed defensively, pushing open the door to the exit. The weather was clearing up somewhat, and the warm air felt like heaven; all three shrugged off their jackets in relief.

"Oh!" Moze slapped a hand to her head and pulled out the white envelope from her jacket pocket. "I can't believe I almost forgot…" She handed the envelope to Ned with a smile, and he raised his eyebrows in confusion before breaking open the flap. The tickets and money fell into his hands, and his jaw dropped open in shock.

Cookie simply grinned, a mysterious hint of relief reflecting in his eyes.

"Still think it's the worst New Year's ever?"

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

"_It's time for a change of direction, skaters – if you could all switch to counterclockwise, please!"_

The announcer switched off the microphone and groaned, a hand running through his hair. Working on New Year's Day was a pain enough, but something told him a certain wife would be all over his case when he got home tonight. He could already imagine it now: _"It's New Year's Day, Ryan, and I had to spend it ALONE because YOU had to go announce at an ice-skating rink! Why can't you just quit that stupid job already, it doesn't even pay our bills!"_

A tap on the shoulder abruptly pulled him away from his thoughts, and Ryan turned to face the nervous computer technician fidgeting behind him. "Yeah. What's going on?"

"Sir, there was a breach in the computer system during the Four Corners game," The technician squeaked, a hand rubbing the back of his neck in distress. "We found a bunch of wires pulled out, it seems like someone was controlling what corner numbers would be chosen from an outside computer source…"

Ryan let out an exhausted sigh, dropping his forehead into the palm of his hand. "So you're telling me the game was rigged?"

"That's probably the case, sir. And according to the security logs, the breach happened right after you announced what the prize would be."

Ryan let out a deep breath. "Unfortunately, it's too late to do anything now. I just feel sorry for that Simon boy. Poor kid has no idea he donated a free ski trip to some good-for-nothing hacker…"

**:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:**

**Wow, I this turned out to be a lot longer than I expected, not to mention the longest chapter I've ever written. If you didn't understand exactly what went on with the whole hacking thing, just let me know, and I'll be happy to tell you; it's my fault for making my stories so complex and stuff. **

**Four Corners is actually a game they have at the ice skating rink here in Hawaii. I was lucky enough to be the one who won, too – of course, not through cheating or anything. Only difference was that the prize was one of those red and blue flashing magnets, and not a free trip. A girl can dream, though. **

**Reviews appreciated! Next update as soon as possible!**


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